In ancient Greek mythology, the character of Sisyphus, king of Ephyra, is punished for his deceitfulness by being condemned to roll a boulder up a mountain for all eternity.

Jump forward a couple of millennia and creator Bruce Shapiro has used that story as his inspiration for one of the coolest Kickstarter projects we’ve ever seen: a table with an ever-changing automated tabletop pattern created from sand.

“Sisyphus is a kinetic sculpture in which a two-motor robot moves a magnet to pull a steel ball through a field of sand,” Shapiro told Digital Trends. “It can also be thought of as an instrument upon which paths are played. Like musical instruments, it is the combination of both the instrument and composition played upon it which produces the art.”